Investigating the relationship between land alteration and the urban heat island of Seville city using multi-temporal Landsat data

Climate change and anthropogenic activities are affecting the entire earth, where urban areas are not an exception, being affected by extreme weather conditions and environmental disturbances. Urban expansion and industrial development have negatively affected the local climatic condition due to green space deficiency, soil moisture loss, soil erosion, land subsidence, high runoff, and low infiltration rate. Megacities are needed proper management and awareness for healthy ecosystem. The study investigated the properties of land alteration on the urban heat island (UHI) in the city of Seville, Spain. Earth observational Landsat 5 TM and 8 OLI/TIRS remote sensing datasets were used for generating the urban expansion and related land alteration. The study results indicate that built-up land increased by 139.2 Km² while agricultural land decreased by 104.07 Km². Open space and plantation areas also decreased by 62.33 Km² and 30.76 Km², respectively. The average temperature increase was around 0.13 °C per year between 1991 and 2021. Megacities need appropriate development, design, and supervision for sustainable urban development to avoid further UHI intensification. UHI map indicates that thermal variation increased from 2.21 °C (1991) to 3.42 °C (2021). The ecological disturbances also identified using UTFVI and the maps denoted that UTFVI values increased by 0.005 from 1991 to 2021. The present study outcomes are obliging for planners, researchers, and other participants for future evidence-based disaster planning and management.